Court suspends orders of daily reporting to DCI by KRA staff in tax evasion case

Over 80 Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officers who are being investigated over alleged involvement in tax evasion and bribery will not be required to report before the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) daily.

This is after High Court judge Ngenye Macharia suspended the requirement after an application by the accused, who have been reporting to the DCI daily without fail.

The judge directed them to report on July 11, 2019 at the DCI headquarters for purposes of knowing whether they will be charged or not.

Through lawyer Philip Nyachoti, the suspects told the court that their clients have been reporting to DCI daily as required, adding that nothing has happened since May apart from signing a paper.

They claimed that the DCI and DPP have never pressed charges against them and therefore their mobile phones and laptops should be released.

However, the prosecution opposed the application saying that investigations into the case are complex and involve forensic analysis. The DPP urged the court to give them 21 days to complete investigations.

The court was further told that the file has to be taken to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for perusal which is yet to be done.

The case will be mentioned on July 18, 2019.